Friday, July 17, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Rollin' 5* at NKOTB Palladium!!! 04-18-09
How this all came about...
A few months ago, my girls and I were anxiously awaiting the release of tickets for the NKOTB show at The Palladium in Hollywood. With my recent engagement and job hunt into a new career, I was doubtful that I'd be able to go, unless the tickets were under $90. As soon as the tickets went on sale, and I found out that they were over $100, I said "Nope! I can't make it! Have fun, ladies!!!"
Brenda was calling and texting me like there was no tomorrow. We kept missing each other, so she ended up leaving a message saying "I am buying your ticket. Don't even think aboutpayingme back. Think of it as an early bachelorette party present!" Whaaat?!? Unbelievable! Too sweet!!!
The very next day, she called me again, but I had missed her call because Andrew and I were touring the Queen Mary as a possible wedding venue. So, I called her back when I got home, and she said that she had a "guest speaker." Well, it turned out to be Shala! So, we were talking on three-way, and they're asking me what I'm going to wear to the show. I didn't know! I had only received the information 15 hours ago that I would be going to the concert, which was about 3 months away! Silly girls. They urged me to wear something HOT. Oookay ~ that's a can do! But it was gonna be tough cuz we were gonna have to stand in line for a long time and possibly camp out since it was a General Admission show. Then Shala said "Can I tell her Brenda? Can I tell her?" Brenda told her to go ahead. Shala said in a suspenseful style "Girl, you won't have to stand in a long line all night cuz you're gonna be rollin' in 5-Star!!!!"
[note: For those who aren't in the NKOTB loop ~ 5-Star is 5-Star VIP, and from this point forward will be noted as 5*...it includes a meet and greet with the guys, a photo op, gift bag of goodies, and seats within the first 10 rows.]
5*?!? Whaaaaat?!? I was SPEECHLESS! And I am forever GRATEFUL to my wonderful friends who pitched in on my ticket and gave me this AMAZING experience. I never knew I could have friends who are so generous. Love them!!!
And so it begins...
The card was made by yours truly. It became a "scrapping" project for me, as opposed to using Photoshop. I felt that making it all by hand would make it more personal. The wording came to me one night when I had a bit of insomnia: "To the guys who 20 years ago crooned us and swooned us... and still do today!" After laying that out and printing our pictures, it took me another couple of hours to come up with a concrete design concept. So, without going into more detail, I was up until 5am Thursday night/Friday morning finishing the card. I bled over it, as well, with the paper cutter slicing my finger. mmm...
One More Day!!!
5 hours later, I woke up and got ready to meet up with Brenda, her boys, and Shala for breakfast at Vivian's Cafe in Studio City (my favorite breakfast place here!). After breakfast, we headed over to the Palladium to check out the line and set up our chairs. I had never been to the Palladium before, and couldn't believe it was SO close to Arclight Cinemas, where Andrew and I generally go to for the movies.
The line wasn't very long, and we found out we were the first 5* group there. You may wonder - just as the other girls in line did - WHY were we lining up when he have 5* tickets? Well, even 5* was first come, first serve. Our plan was that we wanted to be one of the first - if not THE first group there - so that we could go in, meet the guys, go straight into the venue and claim our spots in the front row. Our plan worked!!!
The girls on either side of our chairs were super sweet and were cool with watching our chairs until we got back that night. When we returned, our chairs were still there, and new girls were there for their shift. It was a chilly 50-something degree evening, so we bundled up in our blankets and hung out. Thank goodness we didn't have to stay all night! Brenda had to leave around midnight or 1am, so we left with her...and the rest of our group took shifts through the night and next day.
Concert Day!!!
The next afternoon, I met Brenda and Shala at the House of Blues, where the guys were having an after-party. Before leaving, we scouted the inside of HOB. We found someone who works there to ask if we could possibly leave my car there till the evening. Sadly, the answer was "no," so, I was forced to circle the blocks surrounding the Palladium. We gave up after a while and temporarily parked in a shopping center lot, shopped in Rite Aid, then moved our chairs from the line (since they started the 5* line on the other side of the building). Time was ticking, so we had to get changed and glammed up in Brenda's car. Once done, we moved our cars AGAIN.
I found a spot a couple of blocks away in a neighborhood ~ woohoo for FREE PARKING!!! Then skadattled my tooshie to the 5* line. And I was STRESSING!!! The pictures I had attached to the card were falling off ~ the double sided stickers and even Elmer's glue weren't strong enough!!! I had purchased glue sticks at Rite Aid to fix this problem, but didn't know if there would be enough time. I rushed glueing everything on while we were standing in line, with the other girls' help.
Apparently, while we were standing in line, one of the guys - I think Danny - pointed to us girls with the sashes and waved. I missed it...I may not have even been there when it happened. I was too nervous and stressed about getting the card straight (and my toenails painted 0:-)) to care. We were going to see them SOON!!!
The event staff checked us in, and what should happen, but they put us in Group B because a few of us were distracted by talking to one of the staff members. The staff at the check-in table were rude and not helpful at all. When we got inside and up to the mezzanine level, we let the staff member (who we were distracted by) know what happened, and she was totally cool with it, and said to just exchange our Group B lanyards with the girls who got the Group A lanyards, so we could stay with our intended groups. It all worked out!!!
Meandering, we looked down at the stage and noticed that Joe and Jordan were down there. We all yelled out and waved. Jordan waved backas he was leaving. Joe was tinkering on the piano, and the band was there tuning their instruments.
Brenda realized that they hadn't checked our bags for cameras, so she wanted to get her camera back from Shala...who was outside standing in the 4* line (4* = first 20 rows and gift bag). As we headed down, the event staff stopped us and asked what was up. Brenda told the staff member that she had her friend's 4* ticket and wanted to give it to her. The staff member asked who it was and said that she knew who we were talking about, so she'd give it to her. Brenda went on to say that it was actually someone else...and then said that our friend had her camera, too, and she wanted to get that. The staff member said "ohh okay. Well, I'll walk you to the door and wait for you." WHEW!!!
When we returned, the staff member wasn't right at the door. So, we walked a little ways (and gazed at Joe at the piano), and Security (I think Earl) asked "what [we were] doing down there, ladies." Brenda started to explain, then the event staff member said that it was okay, we were with her, and she escorted us back to the stairs. Dang! Security drama!
Back on the mezzanine level, I had the girls sign our card to the guys, and then Joe decided to try out his new song, "5 Brothers and A Million Sisters," on us. We LOVED it! Of course! ;-) LOOOVED the private performance. *swoon*
As we waited, the guys tweeted away backstage. Joe tweeted "It's official. I'm doing a new song I wrote tonight. Just did it at sound check and I'm feelin' it. All acces fans loved it. We'll see=)"
There was also a "private party" for us with a buffet of hors d'ouevres from Wolfgang Puck and drinks. We chugged down a couple of drinks, prettied up, then it was time to line up! Four Altoids later, the guys came up the stairs and into the meet and greet room. We cheered and they waved as they passed by...Donnie decided to make it more "exciting" by picking up handfuls of the wrapped Lifesaver mints and throwing them in the air. Yyyeah. That's Donnie!
A few minutes later, in we went! And we had a plan. Instead of going directly to our guys, we would stop in front of them and say "Hey guys, we have something for you." Katia would take out the award, and Trish was sneaking in the card for me...and we would hand it over. Well, it didn't quite work out like that.
The guys came to US, and as soon as the card and award were handed over to Donnie, Donnie passed it on to the event staff. Boooo!!!
The first New Kid available to me was Jordan. I gave him a hug, said "Hi Jordan! How are you?!" He said "Hiii ~ how are you?" I replied "Good!!! And how are you???" He said "Gooood!" I said "gooood!" again. LOL I think he said something about our sashes, then said "Well, you all look very nice!" I graciously replied "Thanks!" and moved on to Danny.
I hugged and said "hello" to Danny, and he looked at my sash and immediately asked "What's Eurasian?" I proceeded to tell him the European and Asian blood in me. Right about that time, the event staff told us "Okay! Get together for the picture!!!" WHAT?!? I JUST got here!!! WTF?!? I don't even remember how I ended the little "convo" with Danny. All I knew was that I had to get to JOE!
I meandered my way over to him, gave him a hug and said "Hi Joe!" He said "Hiiii..." When we parted from the hug, he took my sash and said "What does yours say?...Eurasian...what's that?" Talking with my hands, I explained "It's a mix of European and Asian. I'm half Filipino and half Canadian, with some Irish, Spanish, German, [a little Chinese?]...you name it, I've probably got it!" I don't remember if I mentioned the little Chinese part. He raised his eyebrows and cocked his head back in surprise and said "Wow! Well, you're one good looking mutt!" I laughed and said "thanks!"
Brenda came in right then to settle in for the picture and said "Actually, we have a question we'd like to ask you." Joe said "Sure, what's your question?" I was supposed to pick it up from there, but I think I was either (a) so enamored by Joe to talk again, or (b) recognized that he was still
looking at Brenda to continue, so I let her. "We were wondering if we could give you a kiss on the cheek for the picture." He answered "Okay. Only because you're SO SWEET!" Before they snapped the shot, I asked "First or second picture?" Although I didn't hear her, Brenda said "First picture, no?" And Joe said "Let's do the first picture." NICE!!! We took our positions ~ lips right on him, and the picture was taken. In between shots, I started to wipe the lipstick of his cheek, and Brenda was doing the same thing! Joe said "Don't worry about it ~ I'll get it later." He was a little scruffy. :-)
Again, after the picture was shot, I have no idea how we left. Goodbyes? Don't remember. I wanted to get to Donnie and Jon really quick, since I didn't get to say "hi" earlier...but Brenda was already at Donnie getting her sash signed. I didn't even know it was her! I just saw Donnie, and saw that he was signing a sash. So, I got to Jon, who was at the end by the door. I said "Hi Jon! I just want a quick hug! Thanks!!!" I got my Jon hug. :-D
When we were out the door, Brenda and I squealed "We kissed Joe on the cheeeeek!!! EEEEEEEEeeee!!!" Yeah, we're grown up, engaged and married. 0;-D
One thing I noticed in meeting the guys in 2-inch heels was that they are shorter than I remember from meeting them at the CD Listening Party! Maybe it was because I was in such shock in meeting them for the first time back then that I just didn't notice... but this time, I really noticed. I spent time talking to Danny and Joe and really stood next to them...that's what it is. It's a good thing I didn't wear my 3-4" heels ~ they REALLY would've looked short!!!
We got down the stairs as quickly as we could in our heels and went straight to the front of the stage!!!
The Jaborwakees from America's Best Dance Crew had set up and were on stage doing a quick rehearsal. What else can I say about them, but yeah, they were fantastic! They certainly pleased the crowd when they did an 80s/90s mix that included "The Right Stuff."
Jordan, surprisingly, kept looking my way A LOT as soon as he took off the sunglasses. Jon with the eye contact - not so much - and we know why. ;-) If he did look at me, it would be for a second or two, then he'd look somewhere else. It's all good. I would have a hard time keeping that eye contact, too...being on the audience side, though, it's easier to hold that gaze. I finally got Donnie's attention when he came to our side of the stage. We locked eyes, I waved, and he winked back. And Joe...the looks continued through the show. *sigh*
The HIGHLIGHT: They started on "Click Click Click"...Brenda kept saying "oh my gosh, look at Joe! Look at Joe!" I'm not exactly sure why she kept telling me to look at Joe because everytime I looked over, he was looking at the stage, tapping his foot or snapping his fingers. I just assumed she was saying it because he was just being himself and cute. Then she said "Oh my gosh, he is SOOO gonna serenade us!!!" Sure enough, as soon as it got to his verse, he came over to me, looked right into my eyes and sang "Damn you look so good, it hurts me / The design of your body is PERFECT / oh oh oh oh yeah...baby / I don't deserve you, girl." mmm...DYING!!! And "baby" was completely ad-libbed.
Jordan came around at one point and touched the fans' hands, and mine was the last one he touched from one round. It was a very firm hand grab!
At the end of the show, Jordan and Donnie went for the touching-fans'-hands again. Donnie got my hand that time around, and he wouldn't let go! THEN he went for and attacked my necklaces! I was SO confused ~ what did he want? What was he looking for? He finally got to my longest and heaviest necklace, which has a Fleur de Lis pendant. He looked at it, his face suddenly changed to one with no stage persona, so real, and like we were old time buddies, and he said "That's so fuckin' COOL!!!" He smiled his huge smile and nodded. I just said "yeah!" and smiled.
I took this pic after I bought the dress ~ Brenda & Shala wanted to see my outfit!
The After Party
The party wasn't over after the show was over! Thank God for that!!! Brenda's husband, Jason, and his friends had gone to the House of Blues to stand in line for us and buy tickets. I know ~ she has a great husband!
When we got inside, we waited a bit for the guys to perform. We were originally told that they wouldn't be performing, but as our tickets were scanned, and we got wristbands, they told us to "enjoy the show!" Fans were gathered in front of the stage, and there was movement behind the curtain.
I don't know how long it was that we waited, but they finally opened the curtains! Shala, Brenda, another friend - Christina, and her friend - Shannon had found spots by the stairs next to the stage. We were pretty close!
It was a MADHOUSE!!! More so than any other NK event I've been to. Nothing violent, but there was a lot of pushing to get closer, dancing, and nasty sweating.
Only Donnie, Jordan, and Joe were there for the after party, but they rocked it! They performed "Full Service," "Dirty Dancing," and ended with "Sexify My Love" ~ the first time they've performed this in public (that I know of)! It was HOT.
Donnie and Joe decided to go crowd surfing during "Dirty Dancing."
And again, Jordan and Joe kept looking our way. There's no telling WHO they were looking at since there were so many of us clumped together, but at least I know for sure that there was look-age during the full concert! ;-)
We hung out on the dance floor and danced a bit. We laughed at this old man dancing with all the ladies on the floor. And we laughed as girls took pictures with Jason's friends, because they thought the guys were famous!
A trip upstairs to wander was necessary. No one even questioned us or asked to see ID/wristbands/passes to be there. One of their roadies, Kevin was up there (who's been featured in one of their vlogs), and Shala went to go say "hi!" We ended up hearing through the grapevine that Jordan and Joe had left, and that as soon as Donnie was done talking to whoever he was talking to, he was leaving."
So, not too much action that happened afterwards. As we decided to leave ourselves, we heard screams outside, and we followed those screams. Donnie had just hopped into his SUV and took off.
At that, we took a couple of pics, then ended our night at IHOP. Yummy! A nice ending to an extraordinary night. :-)
Thanks to Christina R. for the HOB group pic!
A few months ago, my girls and I were anxiously awaiting the release of tickets for the NKOTB show at The Palladium in Hollywood. With my recent engagement and job hunt into a new career, I was doubtful that I'd be able to go, unless the tickets were under $90. As soon as the tickets went on sale, and I found out that they were over $100, I said "Nope! I can't make it! Have fun, ladies!!!"
Brenda was calling and texting me like there was no tomorrow. We kept missing each other, so she ended up leaving a message saying "I am buying your ticket. Don't even think aboutpayingme back. Think of it as an early bachelorette party present!" Whaaat?!? Unbelievable! Too sweet!!!
The very next day, she called me again, but I had missed her call because Andrew and I were touring the Queen Mary as a possible wedding venue. So, I called her back when I got home, and she said that she had a "guest speaker." Well, it turned out to be Shala! So, we were talking on three-way, and they're asking me what I'm going to wear to the show. I didn't know! I had only received the information 15 hours ago that I would be going to the concert, which was about 3 months away! Silly girls. They urged me to wear something HOT. Oookay ~ that's a can do! But it was gonna be tough cuz we were gonna have to stand in line for a long time and possibly camp out since it was a General Admission show. Then Shala said "Can I tell her Brenda? Can I tell her?" Brenda told her to go ahead. Shala said in a suspenseful style "Girl, you won't have to stand in a long line all night cuz you're gonna be rollin' in 5-Star!!!!"
[note: For those who aren't in the NKOTB loop ~ 5-Star is 5-Star VIP, and from this point forward will be noted as 5*...it includes a meet and greet with the guys, a photo op, gift bag of goodies, and seats within the first 10 rows.]
5*?!? Whaaaaat?!? I was SPEECHLESS! And I am forever GRATEFUL to my wonderful friends who pitched in on my ticket and gave me this AMAZING experience. I never knew I could have friends who are so generous. Love them!!!
And so it begins...
The week comes to get ready for our show. Brenda and I had joined a group formed on the NKOTB Community Board. They wanted to form this group so that at the meet and greet, we would each be able to stand next to our favorite guy for the pictures. They wanted to come up with an idea to make our group stand out from the rest. One of those ideas was to make beauty pagent type sashes. Each one ended up reading "This ____ Girl <3 NKOTB." The blank being filled in with our ethnicity. I worried that I didn't have anything to put in that blank because - what exactly is my ethnicity? I usually check that box that says "other." This Other Girl <3 NKOTB. Awesome. Actually, I considered putting in "Mutt," but didn't like the look of it. Suddenly, it hit me. Duh! When filling out college applications back in the day, I'd always fill in that "other" blank with "Eurasian." This Eurasian Girl <3 NKOTB. MUCH better!
Along with the sashes, the group wanted to give the guys a "fan appreciation award" and card. Sounds cheesy to outsiders, I know. But the trophy looked AMAZING. We left it in the box it came in, and one of the girls printed out a slick poster to go on top of the box, which included our names.
Along with the sashes, the group wanted to give the guys a "fan appreciation award" and card. Sounds cheesy to outsiders, I know. But the trophy looked AMAZING. We left it in the box it came in, and one of the girls printed out a slick poster to go on top of the box, which included our names. 
One More Day!!!5 hours later, I woke up and got ready to meet up with Brenda, her boys, and Shala for breakfast at Vivian's Cafe in Studio City (my favorite breakfast place here!). After breakfast, we headed over to the Palladium to check out the line and set up our chairs. I had never been to the Palladium before, and couldn't believe it was SO close to Arclight Cinemas, where Andrew and I generally go to for the movies.
The line wasn't very long, and we found out we were the first 5* group there. You may wonder - just as the other girls in line did - WHY were we lining up when he have 5* tickets? Well, even 5* was first come, first serve. Our plan was that we wanted to be one of the first - if not THE first group there - so that we could go in, meet the guys, go straight into the venue and claim our spots in the front row. Our plan worked!!!
The girls on either side of our chairs were super sweet and were cool with watching our chairs until we got back that night. When we returned, our chairs were still there, and new girls were there for their shift. It was a chilly 50-something degree evening, so we bundled up in our blankets and hung out. Thank goodness we didn't have to stay all night! Brenda had to leave around midnight or 1am, so we left with her...and the rest of our group took shifts through the night and next day.Concert Day!!!
The next afternoon, I met Brenda and Shala at the House of Blues, where the guys were having an after-party. Before leaving, we scouted the inside of HOB. We found someone who works there to ask if we could possibly leave my car there till the evening. Sadly, the answer was "no," so, I was forced to circle the blocks surrounding the Palladium. We gave up after a while and temporarily parked in a shopping center lot, shopped in Rite Aid, then moved our chairs from the line (since they started the 5* line on the other side of the building). Time was ticking, so we had to get changed and glammed up in Brenda's car. Once done, we moved our cars AGAIN.
I found a spot a couple of blocks away in a neighborhood ~ woohoo for FREE PARKING!!! Then skadattled my tooshie to the 5* line. And I was STRESSING!!! The pictures I had attached to the card were falling off ~ the double sided stickers and even Elmer's glue weren't strong enough!!! I had purchased glue sticks at Rite Aid to fix this problem, but didn't know if there would be enough time. I rushed glueing everything on while we were standing in line, with the other girls' help.
Apparently, while we were standing in line, one of the guys - I think Danny - pointed to us girls with the sashes and waved. I missed it...I may not have even been there when it happened. I was too nervous and stressed about getting the card straight (and my toenails painted 0:-)) to care. We were going to see them SOON!!!
The event staff checked us in, and what should happen, but they put us in Group B because a few of us were distracted by talking to one of the staff members. The staff at the check-in table were rude and not helpful at all. When we got inside and up to the mezzanine level, we let the staff member (who we were distracted by) know what happened, and she was totally cool with it, and said to just exchange our Group B lanyards with the girls who got the Group A lanyards, so we could stay with our intended groups. It all worked out!!!
Meandering, we looked down at the stage and noticed that Joe and Jordan were down there. We all yelled out and waved. Jordan waved backas he was leaving. Joe was tinkering on the piano, and the band was there tuning their instruments.
Brenda realized that they hadn't checked our bags for cameras, so she wanted to get her camera back from Shala...who was outside standing in the 4* line (4* = first 20 rows and gift bag). As we headed down, the event staff stopped us and asked what was up. Brenda told the staff member that she had her friend's 4* ticket and wanted to give it to her. The staff member asked who it was and said that she knew who we were talking about, so she'd give it to her. Brenda went on to say that it was actually someone else...and then said that our friend had her camera, too, and she wanted to get that. The staff member said "ohh okay. Well, I'll walk you to the door and wait for you." WHEW!!!
When we returned, the staff member wasn't right at the door. So, we walked a little ways (and gazed at Joe at the piano), and Security (I think Earl) asked "what [we were] doing down there, ladies." Brenda started to explain, then the event staff member said that it was okay, we were with her, and she escorted us back to the stairs. Dang! Security drama!
Back on the mezzanine level, I had the girls sign our card to the guys, and then Joe decided to try out his new song, "5 Brothers and A Million Sisters," on us. We LOVED it! Of course! ;-) LOOOVED the private performance. *swoon*
As we waited, the guys tweeted away backstage. Joe tweeted "It's official. I'm doing a new song I wrote tonight. Just did it at sound check and I'm feelin' it. All acces fans loved it. We'll see=)"
There was also a "private party" for us with a buffet of hors d'ouevres from Wolfgang Puck and drinks. We chugged down a couple of drinks, prettied up, then it was time to line up! Four Altoids later, the guys came up the stairs and into the meet and greet room. We cheered and they waved as they passed by...Donnie decided to make it more "exciting" by picking up handfuls of the wrapped Lifesaver mints and throwing them in the air. Yyyeah. That's Donnie!
A few minutes later, in we went! And we had a plan. Instead of going directly to our guys, we would stop in front of them and say "Hey guys, we have something for you." Katia would take out the award, and Trish was sneaking in the card for me...and we would hand it over. Well, it didn't quite work out like that.
The guys came to US, and as soon as the card and award were handed over to Donnie, Donnie passed it on to the event staff. Boooo!!!
The first New Kid available to me was Jordan. I gave him a hug, said "Hi Jordan! How are you?!" He said "Hiii ~ how are you?" I replied "Good!!! And how are you???" He said "Gooood!" I said "gooood!" again. LOL I think he said something about our sashes, then said "Well, you all look very nice!" I graciously replied "Thanks!" and moved on to Danny.
I hugged and said "hello" to Danny, and he looked at my sash and immediately asked "What's Eurasian?" I proceeded to tell him the European and Asian blood in me. Right about that time, the event staff told us "Okay! Get together for the picture!!!" WHAT?!? I JUST got here!!! WTF?!? I don't even remember how I ended the little "convo" with Danny. All I knew was that I had to get to JOE!
I meandered my way over to him, gave him a hug and said "Hi Joe!" He said "Hiiii..." When we parted from the hug, he took my sash and said "What does yours say?...Eurasian...what's that?" Talking with my hands, I explained "It's a mix of European and Asian. I'm half Filipino and half Canadian, with some Irish, Spanish, German, [a little Chinese?]...you name it, I've probably got it!" I don't remember if I mentioned the little Chinese part. He raised his eyebrows and cocked his head back in surprise and said "Wow! Well, you're one good looking mutt!" I laughed and said "thanks!"
Brenda came in right then to settle in for the picture and said "Actually, we have a question we'd like to ask you." Joe said "Sure, what's your question?" I was supposed to pick it up from there, but I think I was either (a) so enamored by Joe to talk again, or (b) recognized that he was still
looking at Brenda to continue, so I let her. "We were wondering if we could give you a kiss on the cheek for the picture." He answered "Okay. Only because you're SO SWEET!" Before they snapped the shot, I asked "First or second picture?" Although I didn't hear her, Brenda said "First picture, no?" And Joe said "Let's do the first picture." NICE!!! We took our positions ~ lips right on him, and the picture was taken. In between shots, I started to wipe the lipstick of his cheek, and Brenda was doing the same thing! Joe said "Don't worry about it ~ I'll get it later." He was a little scruffy. :-)
Again, after the picture was shot, I have no idea how we left. Goodbyes? Don't remember. I wanted to get to Donnie and Jon really quick, since I didn't get to say "hi" earlier...but Brenda was already at Donnie getting her sash signed. I didn't even know it was her! I just saw Donnie, and saw that he was signing a sash. So, I got to Jon, who was at the end by the door. I said "Hi Jon! I just want a quick hug! Thanks!!!" I got my Jon hug. :-D
When we were out the door, Brenda and I squealed "We kissed Joe on the cheeeeek!!! EEEEEEEEeeee!!!" Yeah, we're grown up, engaged and married. 0;-D
One thing I noticed in meeting the guys in 2-inch heels was that they are shorter than I remember from meeting them at the CD Listening Party! Maybe it was because I was in such shock in meeting them for the first time back then that I just didn't notice... but this time, I really noticed. I spent time talking to Danny and Joe and really stood next to them...that's what it is. It's a good thing I didn't wear my 3-4" heels ~ they REALLY would've looked short!!!
We got down the stairs as quickly as we could in our heels and went straight to the front of the stage!!!
The Jaborwakees from America's Best Dance Crew had set up and were on stage doing a quick rehearsal. What else can I say about them, but yeah, they were fantastic! They certainly pleased the crowd when they did an 80s/90s mix that included "The Right Stuff."
The guys (I'm amused with myself in calling them "the guys" more than "NKOTB" or the like) got on stage a little after 8:30pm, and it was cool to see a new song line-up since I had last seen them at Nokia Theatre.
I have to say that the BEST part of being front row was all the eye contact. I think the first definite eye contact I got was from Danny. It could've possibly been Jordan, but he had sunglasses on, so I really couldn't tell for sure. The next was Joe. Brenda had asked me "What is on Jon's belt buckle?!?" I looked over, tilted my head to the side, and made an inquisitive face as I tried to figure it out. Right then, Joe looked at me! Brenda exclaimed "OMG! Joe just spotted you!!!!" Okay, I wasn't imagining it! LOL And everytime Joe looked at me, Brenda couldn't stop herself from saying "You bitch! I hate you! ;-)" She got eye contact, too, though. I wasn't the only one looking hot. ;-)
I have to say that the BEST part of being front row was all the eye contact. I think the first definite eye contact I got was from Danny. It could've possibly been Jordan, but he had sunglasses on, so I really couldn't tell for sure. The next was Joe. Brenda had asked me "What is on Jon's belt buckle?!?" I looked over, tilted my head to the side, and made an inquisitive face as I tried to figure it out. Right then, Joe looked at me! Brenda exclaimed "OMG! Joe just spotted you!!!!" Okay, I wasn't imagining it! LOL And everytime Joe looked at me, Brenda couldn't stop herself from saying "You bitch! I hate you! ;-)" She got eye contact, too, though. I wasn't the only one looking hot. ;-)
Jordan, surprisingly, kept looking my way A LOT as soon as he took off the sunglasses. Jon with the eye contact - not so much - and we know why. ;-) If he did look at me, it would be for a second or two, then he'd look somewhere else. It's all good. I would have a hard time keeping that eye contact, too...being on the audience side, though, it's easier to hold that gaze. I finally got Donnie's attention when he came to our side of the stage. We locked eyes, I waved, and he winked back. And Joe...the looks continued through the show. *sigh*
The HIGHLIGHT: They started on "Click Click Click"...Brenda kept saying "oh my gosh, look at Joe! Look at Joe!" I'm not exactly sure why she kept telling me to look at Joe because everytime I looked over, he was looking at the stage, tapping his foot or snapping his fingers. I just assumed she was saying it because he was just being himself and cute. Then she said "Oh my gosh, he is SOOO gonna serenade us!!!" Sure enough, as soon as it got to his verse, he came over to me, looked right into my eyes and sang "Damn you look so good, it hurts me / The design of your body is PERFECT / oh oh oh oh yeah...baby / I don't deserve you, girl." mmm...DYING!!! And "baby" was completely ad-libbed.
Jordan came around at one point and touched the fans' hands, and mine was the last one he touched from one round. It was a very firm hand grab!
At the end of the show, Jordan and Donnie went for the touching-fans'-hands again. Donnie got my hand that time around, and he wouldn't let go! THEN he went for and attacked my necklaces! I was SO confused ~ what did he want? What was he looking for? He finally got to my longest and heaviest necklace, which has a Fleur de Lis pendant. He looked at it, his face suddenly changed to one with no stage persona, so real, and like we were old time buddies, and he said "That's so fuckin' COOL!!!" He smiled his huge smile and nodded. I just said "yeah!" and smiled.
I took this pic after I bought the dress ~ Brenda & Shala wanted to see my outfit!The After Party
The party wasn't over after the show was over! Thank God for that!!! Brenda's husband, Jason, and his friends had gone to the House of Blues to stand in line for us and buy tickets. I know ~ she has a great husband!
When we got inside, we waited a bit for the guys to perform. We were originally told that they wouldn't be performing, but as our tickets were scanned, and we got wristbands, they told us to "enjoy the show!" Fans were gathered in front of the stage, and there was movement behind the curtain.
I don't know how long it was that we waited, but they finally opened the curtains! Shala, Brenda, another friend - Christina, and her friend - Shannon had found spots by the stairs next to the stage. We were pretty close!
It was a MADHOUSE!!! More so than any other NK event I've been to. Nothing violent, but there was a lot of pushing to get closer, dancing, and nasty sweating.
Only Donnie, Jordan, and Joe were there for the after party, but they rocked it! They performed "Full Service," "Dirty Dancing," and ended with "Sexify My Love" ~ the first time they've performed this in public (that I know of)! It was HOT.
Donnie and Joe decided to go crowd surfing during "Dirty Dancing."And again, Jordan and Joe kept looking our way. There's no telling WHO they were looking at since there were so many of us clumped together, but at least I know for sure that there was look-age during the full concert! ;-)
We hung out on the dance floor and danced a bit. We laughed at this old man dancing with all the ladies on the floor. And we laughed as girls took pictures with Jason's friends, because they thought the guys were famous!
A trip upstairs to wander was necessary. No one even questioned us or asked to see ID/wristbands/passes to be there. One of their roadies, Kevin was up there (who's been featured in one of their vlogs), and Shala went to go say "hi!" We ended up hearing through the grapevine that Jordan and Joe had left, and that as soon as Donnie was done talking to whoever he was talking to, he was leaving."
So, not too much action that happened afterwards. As we decided to leave ourselves, we heard screams outside, and we followed those screams. Donnie had just hopped into his SUV and took off.
At that, we took a couple of pics, then ended our night at IHOP. Yummy! A nice ending to an extraordinary night. :-)
Thanks to Christina R. for the HOB group pic!Thursday, February 26, 2009
Taking Charge of My Life
This most recent work incident showed that even when I try to avoid it, I somehow place myself in the same situations. My gut tries to tell me that something's not right, I forge on, ignoring my gut, and then I end up being taken advantage of, walked over, a victim yet again. I got kinda pissed thinking about this, and how this could happen AGAIN. So, what to do? Take charge! Aw yeah. Not only did the company's goals not fit with my ultimate goals, but why keep myself in a situation where I'll constantly be on my toes because of a silly girl who can't take any responsibility for herself and makes me look bad? Yeah ~ buh-bye.
My letter of resignation was typed up and delivered to the silly girl who set up my interview, and the other to the owner. Silly Girl was the first to receive my news, as I don't have any way to contact the owner. The letter to the owner got to her by way of a friend going in for the receptionist interview. The letter was in a bag with the owner's tupperware (she had given me food to take home last week). When my friend arrived at the clinic, Silly Girl told her that the owner was unaware that I resigned! She didn't tell her ~ she didn't want to. (What?!? ...I know.) So, she placed my letter into the owner's purse. Did she really? With her track record, I wouldn't be surprised if she put it in her own purse.
Later that evening, I received an email from Silly Girl saying that it's "okay," and the owner said I could come back if I want to. She apologized for "leaving me alone" at the receptionist desk last week without any training. She told me to keep in touch, especially with the owner because she was "a little sad" after reading my letter.
ummm...again, really? Are these some half-truths being thrown at me again?
I do wish their company the best of luck as they grow and expand. It just was never meant to be a workplace for me.
My letter of resignation was typed up and delivered to the silly girl who set up my interview, and the other to the owner. Silly Girl was the first to receive my news, as I don't have any way to contact the owner. The letter to the owner got to her by way of a friend going in for the receptionist interview. The letter was in a bag with the owner's tupperware (she had given me food to take home last week). When my friend arrived at the clinic, Silly Girl told her that the owner was unaware that I resigned! She didn't tell her ~ she didn't want to. (What?!? ...I know.) So, she placed my letter into the owner's purse. Did she really? With her track record, I wouldn't be surprised if she put it in her own purse.
Later that evening, I received an email from Silly Girl saying that it's "okay," and the owner said I could come back if I want to. She apologized for "leaving me alone" at the receptionist desk last week without any training. She told me to keep in touch, especially with the owner because she was "a little sad" after reading my letter.
ummm...again, really? Are these some half-truths being thrown at me again?
I do wish their company the best of luck as they grow and expand. It just was never meant to be a workplace for me.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
At Wits End
Maybe I should've trusted my gut. And all I can say is that perhaps tomorrow will unfold to what it's supposed to be. I hope it does because I am so pissed off right now. I feel like it's one thing after another. It started with a notion of "oh, this is the BEST place EVER!" Really? The expectations of my staying and to be part of a "team!" No. I don't like the pressure. And one statement after another makes me feel like I'm being roped into a cult. "Before you know it, you'll know our language!" Umm...I've been around it my entire life, and I still don't speak it...hello?
What's got me miffed? I was just "informed" earlier today that I was going to be instilled into the position of "receptionist" at the place where I'm supposed to be an esthetician. Oh, I'd still do the esthetician job, AND get paid to be a receptionist. Okay, great that I would be paid for those "services," but I did NOT sign up for this. I am PAST that time in my life to be a receptionist, and while they might throw this "team" business at me, they are NOT paying me enough ~ even commission-wise to consider it! My other job pays significantly more, and I'd rather put in the extra time there OR get hired by my dream job.
It's too bad that I have to go in tomorrow to COVER for the receptionist. Stuck there for 5 hours, disgruntled. I agreed to this before they decided that *I* could be the next receptionist. NO! Ughhhh...
What's got me miffed? I was just "informed" earlier today that I was going to be instilled into the position of "receptionist" at the place where I'm supposed to be an esthetician. Oh, I'd still do the esthetician job, AND get paid to be a receptionist. Okay, great that I would be paid for those "services," but I did NOT sign up for this. I am PAST that time in my life to be a receptionist, and while they might throw this "team" business at me, they are NOT paying me enough ~ even commission-wise to consider it! My other job pays significantly more, and I'd rather put in the extra time there OR get hired by my dream job.
It's too bad that I have to go in tomorrow to COVER for the receptionist. Stuck there for 5 hours, disgruntled. I agreed to this before they decided that *I* could be the next receptionist. NO! Ughhhh...
Friday, January 23, 2009
Sunday, January 04, 2009
New Year's Eve at Disney ~ Where Dreams Come True...
Charlene & Andrew are engaged!!!The story is this. We spent New Year's at Disney. Yes, I had a suspicion that Andrew MIGHT propose that night since he had already talked to my dad, but I didn't know when or how.
We arrived at Disney only to find out that Disneyland was sold out. Andrew was quite determined to find a way to get us in there if it was at all possible! Even to the point of spending $500 to upgrade our annual pass to premium membership, granting access 365 days a year. Unfortunately, they weren't doing ANY of that! But they were granting access to Disney's California Adventure with a discounted annual passholder ticket. It is what it is, and we took it. We hadn't visited California Adventure in a while, and it was still Disney, so, why not?
Andrew had the idea to get professional pics taken for a photo montage to send to our families. "It would be a nice holiday momento," he said. Okay. Yes, it would be great to have shots of us once I have the ring on, I thought. We talked to the photographer at the entrance to inquire about nighttime shots, and she assured us that nighttime photographers would be out all night.
We strolled around the park, enjoyed some Robert Mondavi Chardonnay, and checked out an exhibit of renovations to come at California Adventure, and I must say, the renovations are going to be AWESOME! I cannot wait to see the new, old-time Hollywood entrance with trolley cars and a replica of the Carthay Circle Theatre, where "Snow White" premiered. The renovation plan is one that good ol' Walt will be proud of!
Continuing our stroll, we stopped by another photographer who stood by the California Zephyr Diner Train to ask of all the photographer locations. He and his photographer partner gave us the rundown and explained how the photo cards worked; that we could use the one photo card and get as many photos as we wanted put onto the one card. We thanked them and moseyed on our way.
Andrew seemed very smiley.
After watching the Bug's Life "It's Hard to Be a Bug" show, we took another lap around the park, and we kept visiting the New Year's area in the Hollywood section. Andrew really seemed to wish there was a professional photographer there. In fact, he talked to one of the Disney cast members just to double check. However, cast members were only working the area and taking pics with the guests' cameras.
We meandered our way towards the front of the park, and as we seemed to be heading OUT of the park, I asked him what we were doing. He asked me where I thought we should have our pictures taken. I was confused because the last photographer had explained to us that we can get our pictures taken anywhere. Why did I need to decide on "the best place"? We ran through the list of locations despite my confusion, and decided that the park entrance with the Golden Gate Bridge background would be the best spot.
Andrew talked to the photographer there and told her what we were looking for ~ multiple shots for a montage, and he wanted a vertical, full length shot, to our shoes. She said she could waist up, but Andrew said "No, I want it to our shoes." She said "no problem," and just as Andrew started to head in front of the camera, I said "WAIT!!! I need lip gloss!" He seemed thrown back,
almost as if he thought we could do it later, and I said "No, we can do it now; I just didn't know we were gonna do the pictures now. I just need a little lip gloss. :-)" We waited for another family to take a picture. Just as they were done, another photographer came in to relieve the photographer we spoke to. Andrew had to explain to him what we were looking for. The guy said "No problem!" We situated ourselves in front of the camera, and the guy asked us to move a little to the right or left, and as the guy instructed us, Andrew started to step towards him, as he asked "Do you have our feet? Do you have our feet?" The guy assured him he did. Smile and click. Okay, what are we doing for our next pose? I wondered. I turned to Andrew, and he was down on one knee, pulling out the box. He asked if I would marry him, I said "yes" (and was a bit teary eyed), he put the ring on, we kissed and hugged, and the photographer captured it all! We also went back to the photographer by the train, who gave us all the info on locations, and we had a couple of shots there, as well, which turned out GREAT!!!Yes, I really had no idea that this was his plan. A plan he came up with an hour before we arrived at the park. Like I said, I really thought we would be going to the photographer post-proposal. Silly me! It's better that way, anyway. ;-)
Ring Specs for those interested:White gold band with a knife cut, 3 stone setting designed by Scott Kay, Echo diamond, round 0.71 carat, E/VS1.
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Holiday Updates
Happy Belated Holidays! Hope it was great for everyone! Mine were...interesting to say the least. It started on a worrisome, somewhat down note, but ended with happiness!
On Monday, December 8th, I received news from my mom that my grandmother on my dad's side was just in a car accident with one of my aunts, and they weren't sure if my grandmother would make it. It was her 97th birthday. My mom and a majority of the family headed up to Canada; my dad had already been there for a few days to celebrate my grandmother's birthday. She made it through two surgeries that the doctors said she had a 1% chance in surviving, but even if she made it through the recooperation, they said she would live the rest of her life in pain. She passed away on Sunday, December 14th, after the last grandchild who could make it had arrived. She was a very healthy, strong, alert, and sweet lady. An accident seems to have been the only way to take her spirit to a better place...otherwise, she would've kept going! :-) We'll miss her, but at least she's back with her hubby on the other side.
During all of that, I had headed home to Richmond on Friday, December 12th. Sharon picked me up from BWI Airport, as it's become our tradition, and we caught up on the ride down south. Sharon left the following day, and the stillness of the house had me completely thrown off. I rummaged around my bedroom, looking for my old NKOTB treasures. I found a few things here and there, and while it was EASY to stumble on NK memorabilia I had forgotten about, a majority of what I was looking must certainly be in the attic.
Just as I became comfortable with the silence of the house, neighbors started inviting me out for dinner. I had already gone out with my friend, Brandon for dinner and a grocery shopping trip. I was set with Marie Callendar frozen foods and deli meats until my parents came back! I thoroughly enjoyed the time alone, but couldn't dismiss their invitations. Two out of three of those frozen foods are still in my parents' freezer.
My parents returned on Thursday, December 18th, both tired, but happy to be home. My dad was sick with 3 infections...and I was on the verge of a cold. My mom eventually caught it, but stopped it from getting any worse. It was a cozy, coughing household. ;-) We were all well enough, though, to celebrate Christmas with my aunt, uncle, and cousin from King William.
Andrew came to visit on December 26th. He walked in on a visit from my bubbly, sweet Auntie Melba, Uncle Gerry, and Auntie Lomen. They jokingly called this "The Auntie Inspection." Andrew passed with flying colors. ;-)
The next day, Andrew spent the afternoon strolling in Carytown ~ a charming, historic part of Richmond with unique shops and restaurants. That evening, my parents took Andrew and I out for dinner. While I wanted to introduce Andrew to the yumminess of Maggiano's, we had to settle for The Cheesecake Factory, as Maggiano's had a long wait. Once home, we had more of my dad's apple pie, then decidedly settled to watch episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" and "How I Met Your Mother." Before I went to get my iPod, Andrew asked me to give him 5 minutes. I knew this was the time. He was going to ask my dad's blessings for us to marry.
I heard him go right in and say that he's never done this before and that he loves me very much. My mom heard my dad reply that I think the world of him, too. And gathering the rest of the story from Andrew, he asked my dad for his blessings, and my dad responded positively, of course. ;-) He said that he had a feeling that it would be coming soon, and he knows that Andrew will take good care of me. He appreciated that Andrew came to him. They continued to talk about marriage in general, living in L.A., and I don't know what else. My mom and I were keeping ourselves scarce and trying to listen in ONLY to hear if they were done "talking."
My mom came up to me after she had finished cleaning up the kitchen and whispered "Are they having a 'man-to-man' talk???" I whispered back "Yes! Andrew's asking for permission to marry me." I went on to explain that he had told me of his plan last February or so, and that he wanted to do this in person, not over the phone. So, I knew that it would be happening during the holidays, but I didn't tell her because I wanted her to be surprised, too.
Finally, my mom gathered that the conversation had come to its completion. I re-entered the den with my iPod that contained an episode of "How I Met Your Mother." My dad got up for a bottle of wine and wine glasses, saying that we were going to toast. My mom slyly asked "For the new year?" My dad returned, poured our glasses with wine, and announced "Andrew just asked me for Charlene's hand!" Since Andrew had told my dad that we had been talking about marriage for a while now, and that I knew he was talking to my dad about it, the announcement really didn't ruin any sort of "surprise." They welcomed Andrew "aboard," and we toasted. Quite a surreal, milestone moment.
We left the next day for Baltimore to spend time with Andrew's family. Most of whom were sick with the stomach flu or eye infection. Our first night, we had a crabcake dinner at Michael's, where we had our first date 3 years ago. We've managed to visit Michael's each time I've been to Baltimore with him. The following day, we walked around Baltimore Harbor and had Starbucks coffee in Barnes & Noble, located in Baltimore's old power plant. Dinner that night was at the Papastephanou's. The night ended with a meetup with two of Andrew's old friends in Fells Point.
Off to L.A. the next day, December 30th. And while a flight across the country can generally be unexciting...we were bumped up to first class on the second leg of our trip, and it was my first time in first class! My personal highlights of first class perks: warm nuts and a warm chocolate cookie!!! :-P Couldn't end the year better...with the exception of what was to come.
On Monday, December 8th, I received news from my mom that my grandmother on my dad's side was just in a car accident with one of my aunts, and they weren't sure if my grandmother would make it. It was her 97th birthday. My mom and a majority of the family headed up to Canada; my dad had already been there for a few days to celebrate my grandmother's birthday. She made it through two surgeries that the doctors said she had a 1% chance in surviving, but even if she made it through the recooperation, they said she would live the rest of her life in pain. She passed away on Sunday, December 14th, after the last grandchild who could make it had arrived. She was a very healthy, strong, alert, and sweet lady. An accident seems to have been the only way to take her spirit to a better place...otherwise, she would've kept going! :-) We'll miss her, but at least she's back with her hubby on the other side.
During all of that, I had headed home to Richmond on Friday, December 12th. Sharon picked me up from BWI Airport, as it's become our tradition, and we caught up on the ride down south. Sharon left the following day, and the stillness of the house had me completely thrown off. I rummaged around my bedroom, looking for my old NKOTB treasures. I found a few things here and there, and while it was EASY to stumble on NK memorabilia I had forgotten about, a majority of what I was looking must certainly be in the attic.
Just as I became comfortable with the silence of the house, neighbors started inviting me out for dinner. I had already gone out with my friend, Brandon for dinner and a grocery shopping trip. I was set with Marie Callendar frozen foods and deli meats until my parents came back! I thoroughly enjoyed the time alone, but couldn't dismiss their invitations. Two out of three of those frozen foods are still in my parents' freezer.
My parents returned on Thursday, December 18th, both tired, but happy to be home. My dad was sick with 3 infections...and I was on the verge of a cold. My mom eventually caught it, but stopped it from getting any worse. It was a cozy, coughing household. ;-) We were all well enough, though, to celebrate Christmas with my aunt, uncle, and cousin from King William.
Andrew came to visit on December 26th. He walked in on a visit from my bubbly, sweet Auntie Melba, Uncle Gerry, and Auntie Lomen. They jokingly called this "The Auntie Inspection." Andrew passed with flying colors. ;-)
The next day, Andrew spent the afternoon strolling in Carytown ~ a charming, historic part of Richmond with unique shops and restaurants. That evening, my parents took Andrew and I out for dinner. While I wanted to introduce Andrew to the yumminess of Maggiano's, we had to settle for The Cheesecake Factory, as Maggiano's had a long wait. Once home, we had more of my dad's apple pie, then decidedly settled to watch episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" and "How I Met Your Mother." Before I went to get my iPod, Andrew asked me to give him 5 minutes. I knew this was the time. He was going to ask my dad's blessings for us to marry.
I heard him go right in and say that he's never done this before and that he loves me very much. My mom heard my dad reply that I think the world of him, too. And gathering the rest of the story from Andrew, he asked my dad for his blessings, and my dad responded positively, of course. ;-) He said that he had a feeling that it would be coming soon, and he knows that Andrew will take good care of me. He appreciated that Andrew came to him. They continued to talk about marriage in general, living in L.A., and I don't know what else. My mom and I were keeping ourselves scarce and trying to listen in ONLY to hear if they were done "talking."
My mom came up to me after she had finished cleaning up the kitchen and whispered "Are they having a 'man-to-man' talk???" I whispered back "Yes! Andrew's asking for permission to marry me." I went on to explain that he had told me of his plan last February or so, and that he wanted to do this in person, not over the phone. So, I knew that it would be happening during the holidays, but I didn't tell her because I wanted her to be surprised, too.
Finally, my mom gathered that the conversation had come to its completion. I re-entered the den with my iPod that contained an episode of "How I Met Your Mother." My dad got up for a bottle of wine and wine glasses, saying that we were going to toast. My mom slyly asked "For the new year?" My dad returned, poured our glasses with wine, and announced "Andrew just asked me for Charlene's hand!" Since Andrew had told my dad that we had been talking about marriage for a while now, and that I knew he was talking to my dad about it, the announcement really didn't ruin any sort of "surprise." They welcomed Andrew "aboard," and we toasted. Quite a surreal, milestone moment.
We left the next day for Baltimore to spend time with Andrew's family. Most of whom were sick with the stomach flu or eye infection. Our first night, we had a crabcake dinner at Michael's, where we had our first date 3 years ago. We've managed to visit Michael's each time I've been to Baltimore with him. The following day, we walked around Baltimore Harbor and had Starbucks coffee in Barnes & Noble, located in Baltimore's old power plant. Dinner that night was at the Papastephanou's. The night ended with a meetup with two of Andrew's old friends in Fells Point.
Off to L.A. the next day, December 30th. And while a flight across the country can generally be unexciting...we were bumped up to first class on the second leg of our trip, and it was my first time in first class! My personal highlights of first class perks: warm nuts and a warm chocolate cookie!!! :-P Couldn't end the year better...with the exception of what was to come.
Friday, December 05, 2008
NKOTB at Nokia!!! 11-26-08
And now a show I CAN write about ~ the NKOTB show at Nokia Theatre. It was their last one in the U.S. for 2008, and the show was AMAZING!!! I honestly think it was the best one I've been to.
Starting with before the concert. My friends and I got there pretty early, and we're pretty sure that we were right behind one of the vans escorting the guys to the show. After circling the block a few times and no longer seeing the van, we ended up parking, put the finishing touches on our makeup and such. The area we parked looked pretty secluded and we wondered if this would be where the guys were parking their cars if they drove themselves. An Audi looked familiar, but we didn't know of anyone who drove it.
We went up to the venue and just walked around/hung out out front till they opened the doors. I got in touch with a mutual myspace friend of mine and Brenda's to find out where she was at. We found her, and we also discovered where the 5* VIP people were waiting. Within 5 to 10 minutes, we saw Jon being dropped off. We were all across the street and not allowed to go anywhere, so we just "woo-ed" and Jon waved.
After we met up with our myspace friend, we went to the restroom, and when we got out to re-meet up with our other friend in our group, we discovered that security wouldn't let us through! Our friend, TC was in line with the 5* people, and security wasn't letting us pass. We told him that our friend was right there, and he was like "Well, she's gonna have to go, too." Brenda and I ended up walking around the building to get to our friend from the other side. TC texted as we were on our way over to tell us that Jon was just there smoking! We were hurrying as fast as we could. When we finally reached her, some of the guys had stepped out into the hallway, and it was all glass windows, so we could see them. Security was trying to keep us back, but finally let us go. There were maybe 6 or 8 of us. So, we ran up to the window, took pics and waved. I got some pretty clear shots of Jordan and Donnie.
Soon after, we went to Will Call to pick up our 4* tickets. We were in the 8th row!!! and all of our seats were together, which was a miracle because we were only allowed to purchase 4 tix at a time, and there were 5 of us. I was going to buy mine as a single, but I Love All Access wasn't happy with my billing address ~ grr argh. So, Brenda ended up buying it for me, but minutes had passed before she did.
Lady Gaga opened for them (I thought that was a one-time Vegas thing ~ guess not), and of course, Natasha Bedingfield. Lady Gaga is just as weird or weirder than I thought she was in Vegas! Very pretentious. And Natasha was awesome, as usual. It was her b-day and her last day on the New Kids tour.
The guys gave all their energy, but I could tell they were tired. Joe and Jordan went off a little bit a couple of times ~ no real support to some of the notes, but that's okay ~ I saw them do it right before. ;-)
Generally, at their concerts, they had a second stage ~ a circular, moving stage that was set up towards the back of the stadium. Nokia theatre couldn't be set up for the B-stage, so they did that part of the concert on the main stage, BUT in the middle of "Tonight," they ran out into the audience and to the back where the audio boards were ~ jumped on top and sang.
Word had spread before the show that after "Click Click Click," we would sing "Happy Birthday" to Jon. I think we were all wondering when to break out in song because the "Click Click Click" pose-off was quite a commotion! Joe showed his nipple! LOL ~ Jordan had bet him $2000 to show some skin. So, a girl in the front row passed the flyer to Joe, and he looked at it saying "Oh, so someone thinks we should sing Happy Birthday to Jon." We cheered, and he started singing NK's version of "Happy Birthday," then he asked if we wanted THEM to sing it or US, we screamed "UUUS!!!" So, he counted us off, we sang, and the band joined in. The guys and dancers gave him hugs, Jon really hugged, picked up, and twirled one of the girls around; and Joe commented on that. Then he was going on about how you only celebrate your birthday for one day, not a week, not a month...but one day! During this time, Donnie kissed Jon smack on the lips!!! The crowd went crazy!!!
After that, Joe explained the whole thing about "Let's Get This," which has appeared as a slogan on their community board. Basically, it's just a saying in response to anything that's going on in your life. If a friend invites you for dinner or you see someone cute in a club, etc. Your response is: "Let's get this." If your best friend tells you she has two tickets to the New Kids concert, you say "Let's get this!!!!!!"
The time that Donnie talks to the crowd, he was like "Are you guys ready to go home???" We were like "NOOOOO!!!!" And he went on about how some of us have husbands (mixed crowd response ;-)). He continued "waiting for you at home to baste the turkey..." He was going on about all of that, and didn't we want to be home getting ready for Thanksgiving. There were boos and no's from the crowd. Then Donnie screamed "Yeah, tell your husbands: 'BASTE YOUR OOOWWWN TURKEY!!!! This is MY night!!!'"
The only other personal memory is when they started "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)." The moment the song started, I felt myself choking up. I have NEVER cried at any of their concerts or when I met them. So, this was a surprise for me, and I couldn't stop myself. It felt like the end of an adventure for me. I know they'll be doing it again in '09, but it's the end for now. And the song is very iconic for me because it's the one song I remember hearing on the Top 5 at 10 at my local radio station (top 5 songs that aired at 10pm). My friends and I would call in and vote, there was one time that I got to announce the #1 song (I think it was "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind)). But I would always fall asleep and/or wake up to "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)," all snug in my bed and SO happy that NK was at #1 or a little disappointed of a slip to #2, but determined to bring them back up to #1 the next night. I remember them singing it at my first NK concert. I was in the 3rd row, and it was like Jordan had pointed right at me when he was pointing at ALL the fans on the line "...and a million for you." *guh!* And how now when they perform it, and we're all singing it...it's like they're singing to us that they'll be loving US forever, and we're singing that we'll be loving THEM forever. It tugs at my heart... :-)
After the show, we went back to the back area ~ where we had seen Jon being dropped off, and we waited out there in the cold for quite a while! We saw Jordan...and...SOMEONE else leave. There was a white van...Jordan came out, waved, got on the ledge of the van, threw both of his hands out in the air, we all ran towards the van. LOL ~ I never thought I'd be one of THOSE girls! But my friends and I DID slow down in the run cuz it was a little ridiculous. And I think we started to run cuz we were in the front and didn't want to get trampled over. Then Brenda and I moved towards the corner of the street with a few other fans and got our pics from there.
After the van left, we met back up with TC and waited some more. TC had a sign for Donnie ~ Florida girl in emergency need of Facetime. Anyway, this someone else who was with Jordan...Brenda thought it was Danny...but I read somewhere else where someone said it was Jon. So, i dunno. We waited, waited, and waited. One of the security guards (and really, how much help were they in keeping us back? ;-)) kept us in the loop. First, saying that it sounded like all the guys were gone, and there was another exit that at least one of the guys took. We still stuck around, and then he heard that there was one guy left in the dressing rooms. Then that went up to two guys. There was slight commotion when people thought they saw Donnie, but who they saw were actually, first, Nick Leche...then about 10 to 15 min. later, it was Drew Leche. Drew actually waved to us (nice), and when he drove off, he honked. And ONE of the Leche brothers had that black Audi that we noticed in the garage. I don't remember which one now.
Oh, and we saw Joe's wife, Barrett. She waved to us. Woo.
We gave up after a while cuz it was cold, the security guards had been gone for a while, and no one was coming out of the building anymore. We hung out in the garage for a little bit to see if anyone we knew would come down. ;-) There was a woman who left who waved to me ~ I think she thought I was about to wave, when I really, I was just pushing the hair out of my face. But that woman kinda looked like Barrett. Then we FINALLY really gave up.
Thus ends our New Kids adventure 2008. I later heard that the last two guys in the dressing room was Donnie and Joe, and they left using the other secret exit ~ honking to the last few remaining girls.
Finally ~ a nice concert montage:
Find more videos like this on New Kids on the Block
Starting with before the concert. My friends and I got there pretty early, and we're pretty sure that we were right behind one of the vans escorting the guys to the show. After circling the block a few times and no longer seeing the van, we ended up parking, put the finishing touches on our makeup and such. The area we parked looked pretty secluded and we wondered if this would be where the guys were parking their cars if they drove themselves. An Audi looked familiar, but we didn't know of anyone who drove it.
We went up to the venue and just walked around/hung out out front till they opened the doors. I got in touch with a mutual myspace friend of mine and Brenda's to find out where she was at. We found her, and we also discovered where the 5* VIP people were waiting. Within 5 to 10 minutes, we saw Jon being dropped off. We were all across the street and not allowed to go anywhere, so we just "woo-ed" and Jon waved.
After we met up with our myspace friend, we went to the restroom, and when we got out to re-meet up with our other friend in our group, we discovered that security wouldn't let us through! Our friend, TC was in line with the 5* people, and security wasn't letting us pass. We told him that our friend was right there, and he was like "Well, she's gonna have to go, too." Brenda and I ended up walking around the building to get to our friend from the other side. TC texted as we were on our way over to tell us that Jon was just there smoking! We were hurrying as fast as we could. When we finally reached her, some of the guys had stepped out into the hallway, and it was all glass windows, so we could see them. Security was trying to keep us back, but finally let us go. There were maybe 6 or 8 of us. So, we ran up to the window, took pics and waved. I got some pretty clear shots of Jordan and Donnie.
Soon after, we went to Will Call to pick up our 4* tickets. We were in the 8th row!!! and all of our seats were together, which was a miracle because we were only allowed to purchase 4 tix at a time, and there were 5 of us. I was going to buy mine as a single, but I Love All Access wasn't happy with my billing address ~ grr argh. So, Brenda ended up buying it for me, but minutes had passed before she did.
Lady Gaga opened for them (I thought that was a one-time Vegas thing ~ guess not), and of course, Natasha Bedingfield. Lady Gaga is just as weird or weirder than I thought she was in Vegas! Very pretentious. And Natasha was awesome, as usual. It was her b-day and her last day on the New Kids tour.
The guys gave all their energy, but I could tell they were tired. Joe and Jordan went off a little bit a couple of times ~ no real support to some of the notes, but that's okay ~ I saw them do it right before. ;-)
Generally, at their concerts, they had a second stage ~ a circular, moving stage that was set up towards the back of the stadium. Nokia theatre couldn't be set up for the B-stage, so they did that part of the concert on the main stage, BUT in the middle of "Tonight," they ran out into the audience and to the back where the audio boards were ~ jumped on top and sang.
Word had spread before the show that after "Click Click Click," we would sing "Happy Birthday" to Jon. I think we were all wondering when to break out in song because the "Click Click Click" pose-off was quite a commotion! Joe showed his nipple! LOL ~ Jordan had bet him $2000 to show some skin. So, a girl in the front row passed the flyer to Joe, and he looked at it saying "Oh, so someone thinks we should sing Happy Birthday to Jon." We cheered, and he started singing NK's version of "Happy Birthday," then he asked if we wanted THEM to sing it or US, we screamed "UUUS!!!" So, he counted us off, we sang, and the band joined in. The guys and dancers gave him hugs, Jon really hugged, picked up, and twirled one of the girls around; and Joe commented on that. Then he was going on about how you only celebrate your birthday for one day, not a week, not a month...but one day! During this time, Donnie kissed Jon smack on the lips!!! The crowd went crazy!!!
After that, Joe explained the whole thing about "Let's Get This," which has appeared as a slogan on their community board. Basically, it's just a saying in response to anything that's going on in your life. If a friend invites you for dinner or you see someone cute in a club, etc. Your response is: "Let's get this." If your best friend tells you she has two tickets to the New Kids concert, you say "Let's get this!!!!!!"
The time that Donnie talks to the crowd, he was like "Are you guys ready to go home???" We were like "NOOOOO!!!!" And he went on about how some of us have husbands (mixed crowd response ;-)). He continued "waiting for you at home to baste the turkey..." He was going on about all of that, and didn't we want to be home getting ready for Thanksgiving. There were boos and no's from the crowd. Then Donnie screamed "Yeah, tell your husbands: 'BASTE YOUR OOOWWWN TURKEY!!!! This is MY night!!!'"
The only other personal memory is when they started "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)." The moment the song started, I felt myself choking up. I have NEVER cried at any of their concerts or when I met them. So, this was a surprise for me, and I couldn't stop myself. It felt like the end of an adventure for me. I know they'll be doing it again in '09, but it's the end for now. And the song is very iconic for me because it's the one song I remember hearing on the Top 5 at 10 at my local radio station (top 5 songs that aired at 10pm). My friends and I would call in and vote, there was one time that I got to announce the #1 song (I think it was "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind)). But I would always fall asleep and/or wake up to "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)," all snug in my bed and SO happy that NK was at #1 or a little disappointed of a slip to #2, but determined to bring them back up to #1 the next night. I remember them singing it at my first NK concert. I was in the 3rd row, and it was like Jordan had pointed right at me when he was pointing at ALL the fans on the line "...and a million for you." *guh!* And how now when they perform it, and we're all singing it...it's like they're singing to us that they'll be loving US forever, and we're singing that we'll be loving THEM forever. It tugs at my heart... :-)
After the show, we went back to the back area ~ where we had seen Jon being dropped off, and we waited out there in the cold for quite a while! We saw Jordan...and...SOMEONE else leave. There was a white van...Jordan came out, waved, got on the ledge of the van, threw both of his hands out in the air, we all ran towards the van. LOL ~ I never thought I'd be one of THOSE girls! But my friends and I DID slow down in the run cuz it was a little ridiculous. And I think we started to run cuz we were in the front and didn't want to get trampled over. Then Brenda and I moved towards the corner of the street with a few other fans and got our pics from there.
After the van left, we met back up with TC and waited some more. TC had a sign for Donnie ~ Florida girl in emergency need of Facetime. Anyway, this someone else who was with Jordan...Brenda thought it was Danny...but I read somewhere else where someone said it was Jon. So, i dunno. We waited, waited, and waited. One of the security guards (and really, how much help were they in keeping us back? ;-)) kept us in the loop. First, saying that it sounded like all the guys were gone, and there was another exit that at least one of the guys took. We still stuck around, and then he heard that there was one guy left in the dressing rooms. Then that went up to two guys. There was slight commotion when people thought they saw Donnie, but who they saw were actually, first, Nick Leche...then about 10 to 15 min. later, it was Drew Leche. Drew actually waved to us (nice), and when he drove off, he honked. And ONE of the Leche brothers had that black Audi that we noticed in the garage. I don't remember which one now.
Oh, and we saw Joe's wife, Barrett. She waved to us. Woo.
We gave up after a while cuz it was cold, the security guards had been gone for a while, and no one was coming out of the building anymore. We hung out in the garage for a little bit to see if anyone we knew would come down. ;-) There was a woman who left who waved to me ~ I think she thought I was about to wave, when I really, I was just pushing the hair out of my face. But that woman kinda looked like Barrett. Then we FINALLY really gave up.
Thus ends our New Kids adventure 2008. I later heard that the last two guys in the dressing room was Donnie and Joe, and they left using the other secret exit ~ honking to the last few remaining girls.
Finally ~ a nice concert montage:
Find more videos like this on New Kids on the Block
NKOTB Vegas ~ Oct. 11th, 2008
So, I haven't written about the Staples show or the Vegas show/adventure because well, as much fun as I had, I couldn't say much about the show except that it was great/awesome/etc. I CAN, however, write a few things about our Vegas trip. While hanging and chillin' out in Mandalay Bay before the show, we saw Robo (their bodyguard), who ended up being pretty rude. Alicia said "hi" to him, and he took off his tour jacket and wrapped it around his waist (thus hiding the NKOTB) and walked away. She wasn't even being obnoxious. I was in the 12th row for the show, and it was great, and would've been even better if there weren't as many tall girls around me. The afterparty at LAX was crazy! The line (or should I say crowd? herd?) to get in was out of control!!! Pushing, shoving, girls screaming that they are on the guest list...yeah, so was everyone else there! It was a good thing Brenda's husband was with us because HE got one of the bouncer's attention and got us in. Girls behind him grabbed onto his shirt in hopes of getting in behind him. No such luck. As we were headed into the club, they noticed that Alicia was still in line, so they went back for her, as Shala and I kept going and were forced in by the security guards. We went down to the dance floor, and the next song to come up was "Put It On My Tab" (a song from the new NK album)! Suddenly, we hear Donnie's voice...LIVE!!! We couldn't see him, but we danced, sang, and represented! Brenda and her cousin weren't able to get Alicia in, but found where the guys were hanging out. We joined them by the back bar and hung out by that entry way. Robo and Kevin (one of their roadies) passed by several times, and only VIP people were allowed to go in. The guys came out another time to perform/hype up the crowd ~ singing "Single" and "Dirty Dancing." This time, Shala and I could see them...through the stair railing and past a guys butt who decidely stood in our formerly perfect view.
Friday, October 03, 2008
580 hrs. down, 20 more to go!!!
Technically, I guess to follow the lead of my first blog about esthetician school, I should've waited till Monday to blog, but ehh ~ I'm gonna go by the fact that I wrote my first blog after my first week of school, and yes, I missed a day during that first week. And now, I technically have 5 days (split up over two weeks) left till I graduate!!!
Hoorah, I learned a lot, and I still have tons left to learn. I'm happy to have found a career that I believe I can excel in and enjoy. And double hoorah for a flexible, live-able 20 hr./week schedule with an income I will be happy with... hoorah! And hoorah that I'll be getting away from the DRAMA that was that class, but I must say that I am also happy to be walking away from that class with one new friend who'll be sticking around for some time. :-)
Hoorah!
P.S. That graduation date is October 15th.
Hoorah, I learned a lot, and I still have tons left to learn. I'm happy to have found a career that I believe I can excel in and enjoy. And double hoorah for a flexible, live-able 20 hr./week schedule with an income I will be happy with... hoorah! And hoorah that I'll be getting away from the DRAMA that was that class, but I must say that I am also happy to be walking away from that class with one new friend who'll be sticking around for some time. :-)
Hoorah!
P.S. That graduation date is October 15th.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
NKOTB Camp Out
On Thursday, August 7th my phone was ringing off the hook ~ from phone calls to text messages. News had just come out that New Kids on the Block had added some Meet and Greet locations following their Mall of America appearance. First on their list was Burbank, CA on Thursday, August 28th! Granted, my friends and I had JUST met them at the CD Listening Party, but there was no way we were gonna miss another opportunity to be close to our 5 favorite guys! As we all say, we don't know how long this wave is gonna last, so we're gonna ride it out for as long as we can!
For three weeks, we were planning it all out ~ from who was picking up who, who was staying at who's place, what time we would head over to Best Buy (where they were doing the Meet and Greet) to get our wristbands ~ there was limited space, and we were gonna make DAMN sure we were getting in! It was finalized that we would have a sleepover at my place, since I lived closest to the Best Buy in Burbank, and our sleepover would be filled with pizza bagels, a variety of yummy popcorn, cookie dough, and ice cream...and fruit (gotta have at least ONE healthy thing in the mix ;-))! I cleaned my apt. like mad. I was READY!!!
Around 9:30pm on Wednesday night (Aug. 27th), I received a text
from Shala, informing me that a contact of hers reported there were about 30 people already lined up in front of Best Buy. She asked if I wanted to camp out. Uuuggghhh...I really didn't want to do that...sleeping bags, pillows, tons of people, out in the open... What about our sleepover?!? We decided we'd scope the place out as soon as I got out of class. By the time we got there (around 11pm), there were about 100 people in line! Oh, we knew a change of plans HAD to be made...immediately! We headed out to the store to buy some fold out chairs, then to my place for some showers and blankets/pillows to bring to our new sleepover site.
We arrived there around 2:30am, and were about 170-something in line. Our lovely locale was in the Best Buy loading dock, right next to a drainage pipe. Some of the girls were about to tear the pipe down with the "noise" it was making, but it actually reminded me of rain falling on a roof. Great for sleeping! Although, not much sleep happened, as we were full of adrenaline, and even when we tried to sleep, all we could hear were the excited fans behind us. haha! Time went by fast, though. We took turns watching our campsite, going out to take a ride in Brenda's Suburban to Starbucks, Krispie Kreme, my apartment, Donnie house (oh yeah, he lives near me :-P; although, it's questionable if he's still there). Soon enough, it was 9:30am, and we were all packing up our campsites and getting ready for the 10am opening. Wheeeee!!!
The line moved pretty quickly, and by 11am, we had our wristbands and lanyards in hand!!! ROCK ON!!! The Meet and Greet was set for 7pm, and we had some time to kill. Some fans got right back in line as soon as they got their "tickets" in, but we had plans of being towards the end in line, knowing from previous experience that we'd have more "looking" time, and they'd be less inclined to rush us being at the end.
It was almost noon, and we were all starving. I directed the ladies to my favorite breakfast spot, Vivian's. When the staff saw us walking in with our "special" lanyards, they asked us what it was all about. We filled them in, and they couldn't have been more excited for us! Our waitress kept coming by singing "Please Don't Girl" ~ horribly! LOL, but it was entertaining enough. After breakfast, it was to my apartment to relax, watch some NKOTB videos ~ interviews, performances, etc. ~ past and present (it was madness!!!), and get ready to see our guys!
Deja vu, we were back at Best Buy close to 7pm. One of the girls saw the guys get out of the van. We got back into line, in our old familiar spot by the loading dock...and proceeded to shiver for the next 3 hrs. Of all nights, the weather got cool with slow breezes. To the thin-blooded Californians and us girls wearing halter tops, that equals FREEZING!!! At this point, while excited, we were also very zoned, and the most "exciting" things that happened was having to hold our wrists up as the Best Buy employees came around to count and make sure no one was trying to sneak in line without a wristband. Besides checking on that, they also announced several times that pictures would no longer be allowed! Oh, we were NOT happy! On the other hand, I was SO happy that I got my pictures with them at the CD Listening Party. Jonathon & Jordan's mom walked by a couple of times, and Joe's cousin (Matthew, I think?) came by and chatted with some girls in front of us. Apparently, they all knew each other.
Three hours later, with numb fingers and toes, we reached the door. They let us in, 20 at a time, and there was another line to get to the table where the guys were. Exciting, exciting! We also found out from someone who knew Shala that we COULD take pictures inside, and that a Best Buy employee would take pics for us as we're walking through the line and meeting the guys.
For most of the day, I was brainstorming on what I was gonna say to the guys. Everything that I came up with sounded so lame, and I didn't even know if I would go through with it. I didn't really come up with anything to say to Jonathon, Jordan, or Donnie. I had a couple of MySpace things I could've said to Jordan and Donnie ~ like "Jordan, are you EVER gonna accept my friend request???" And for Donnie "Hey, I know it took a while, but thanks for finally accepting my friend request." LAME! The others, I actually went through, and it didn't come out sounding too bad. ;-) All it took was a little confidence behind what I said. hehe.
Jon was first in line. I introduced myself (a goal I had this time around), and he said "Hi, it's nice to meet you!" (huge grin). I replied with the usual "It's nice to meet you, too!" Oh, but I wanted to say "It's nice to meet you AGAIN, too!" One of the lame things I thought to say was that he gives the best hugs, but I couldn't bring myself to it...of course, now I'm thinking I could've added "Can I get another hug from you?" or something along those lines. I know, to the outsider, that sounds lame, too...BUT to the New Kids fan, we do it all the time. So, it wouldn't be so lame. Anyway, that was fast, and we were moved along.
Next was Jordan ("he's fresh, he's the master of mix, there ain't no rhyme that he can't fix"). I had absolutely nothing to say to him. I had even forgotten to
mention the MySpace thing. In any case, he didn't seem all the interested in making convo, or even to say "hi." So, no introduction there! Since he was so disinterested, I waited for him to sign my lanyard, and I listened on Brenda asking Jon if he remembered her from Mel's Diner (and they also met at the CD Listening Party, of course), and he said "No...but I remember her," and pointed to Shala, "Her pic-chas ah all ovah the inta-net!" *For those who don't read Bostonian: "Her pictures are all over the internet!" I got a kick out of that! Then Jordan SMACKED his hands on the table and burst out "SO!!! What's goin' ooonn?!?" Oh, he totally threw me off guard! I told him "Not much...we're all cold from standing out there for 2 hrs. We were all shivering!" At that, I demonstrated the shiver ~ haha ~ and Joe looked over. Jordan said "Well, thanks for waiting!" I replied "Thanks for waiting for US!!! :-D" And movin' on down to Joe.
I reached Joe, and just as I did, he opened his small bottle of pepsi and started guzzling it down. However, I was distracted by Danny jumping in and saying "I like your hat!!!" I said "Thanks!" I was gonna continue talking to Danny, but realized that my focus needed to be on Joe. Just as I refocused, Danny leaned over to Joe, glanced at me, and whispered something in Joe's ear. Joe smiled and nodded. WHAT did Danny say?!? Again, I refocused solely on Joe, and he was still guzzling his drink down. Sarcastically, but 
lovingly, I said "Hi Joe!" [Helllooo. I'm here...waiting for youuuu...] He winked (teehee!), finished his gulp, dramatically screwed the cap back and and nearly slammed the bottle on the table. Sharply extending his hand out to me, he exclaimed "HI!!!" I said "Hi!" again, and I honestly don't remember if I introduced myself...I don't think I did. Dang! But as he signed my lanyard, I told him "You know, they really should bring you back as Fiyero in 'Wicked.'" And he said "Well, off the radah [*radar], that might be a possiblity!" (or something along those lines...he could've said "that might be in the works," but you know...). My response was basically "Aww cool..." And I moved onto Danny.
I said "hello" again, and I might have introduced myself. As he signed my lanyard, I said "Thanks for the myspace message, by the way..." He warmly replied "You're welcome! What did I say???" LOL ~ I hinted "Studio City...How do you like Studio City? ;-)" That triggered it. He remembered!
Finally...last, but not least, I greeted Donnie. My voice was super cheerful! LOL ~ I think because I've just been LOVING his blogs and his enthusiasm! He looked oh-so-tired, but every ounce of the energy he had left, he was giving to each one of his fans. He gave his undivided attention, and as one of my friends put it, he wanted every fan to feel special. LOL ~ another friend and I thought that he was SO smooth! He extended his hand out to me before I could even react, and he just looked right through me as he asked how I 
was doing. I was already overwhelmed by talking to the other guys, and he just put me over the edge! Sensory overload!!! I told him I was doing good and asked how he was. He smiled and said "good... :)" I thanked him when he handed my lanyard back to me. He actually replied, looking right at me, as I started to walk away and said "You're welcome. :)" I wished him a good night, and he said "You too... :)" LOL ~ this could've gone on ALL night.
By the time I reached Shala and Christina, all I could say was "omg omg omg omg omg!" THIS time I had a story to tell!!! Not like last time at the CD Listening Party. Oh no.
We hung out to tell our stories, and to wait for the guys to come out. Their van was parked inside the garage for Best Buy, and we weren't the only ones who were waiting. There were literally fans standing outside the garage door and taking pictures through the tiny window! The door opened, and the security guards shooed the girls away. As soon as the van pulled out, fans in their cars PEELED out and followed the van!!! Granted, yes, we did try to do the same thing, except that, Brenda figured it would be smart to beat them to the main road by going across the front of the store, rather than the back. Would've been a good idea, but it just didn't work. We'll leave it at that.
Some were less than thrilled with their experience, but I LOVED mine!!! While we had more personal time with them at the CD Listening Party, I used my time more wisely this time around. It can only get better from here. ;-)
For three weeks, we were planning it all out ~ from who was picking up who, who was staying at who's place, what time we would head over to Best Buy (where they were doing the Meet and Greet) to get our wristbands ~ there was limited space, and we were gonna make DAMN sure we were getting in! It was finalized that we would have a sleepover at my place, since I lived closest to the Best Buy in Burbank, and our sleepover would be filled with pizza bagels, a variety of yummy popcorn, cookie dough, and ice cream...and fruit (gotta have at least ONE healthy thing in the mix ;-))! I cleaned my apt. like mad. I was READY!!!
Around 9:30pm on Wednesday night (Aug. 27th), I received a text
from Shala, informing me that a contact of hers reported there were about 30 people already lined up in front of Best Buy. She asked if I wanted to camp out. Uuuggghhh...I really didn't want to do that...sleeping bags, pillows, tons of people, out in the open... What about our sleepover?!? We decided we'd scope the place out as soon as I got out of class. By the time we got there (around 11pm), there were about 100 people in line! Oh, we knew a change of plans HAD to be made...immediately! We headed out to the store to buy some fold out chairs, then to my place for some showers and blankets/pillows to bring to our new sleepover site.
We arrived there around 2:30am, and were about 170-something in line. Our lovely locale was in the Best Buy loading dock, right next to a drainage pipe. Some of the girls were about to tear the pipe down with the "noise" it was making, but it actually reminded me of rain falling on a roof. Great for sleeping! Although, not much sleep happened, as we were full of adrenaline, and even when we tried to sleep, all we could hear were the excited fans behind us. haha! Time went by fast, though. We took turns watching our campsite, going out to take a ride in Brenda's Suburban to Starbucks, Krispie Kreme, my apartment, Donnie house (oh yeah, he lives near me :-P; although, it's questionable if he's still there). Soon enough, it was 9:30am, and we were all packing up our campsites and getting ready for the 10am opening. Wheeeee!!!
The line moved pretty quickly, and by 11am, we had our wristbands and lanyards in hand!!! ROCK ON!!! The Meet and Greet was set for 7pm, and we had some time to kill. Some fans got right back in line as soon as they got their "tickets" in, but we had plans of being towards the end in line, knowing from previous experience that we'd have more "looking" time, and they'd be less inclined to rush us being at the end.
It was almost noon, and we were all starving. I directed the ladies to my favorite breakfast spot, Vivian's. When the staff saw us walking in with our "special" lanyards, they asked us what it was all about. We filled them in, and they couldn't have been more excited for us! Our waitress kept coming by singing "Please Don't Girl" ~ horribly! LOL, but it was entertaining enough. After breakfast, it was to my apartment to relax, watch some NKOTB videos ~ interviews, performances, etc. ~ past and present (it was madness!!!), and get ready to see our guys!
Deja vu, we were back at Best Buy close to 7pm. One of the girls saw the guys get out of the van. We got back into line, in our old familiar spot by the loading dock...and proceeded to shiver for the next 3 hrs. Of all nights, the weather got cool with slow breezes. To the thin-blooded Californians and us girls wearing halter tops, that equals FREEZING!!! At this point, while excited, we were also very zoned, and the most "exciting" things that happened was having to hold our wrists up as the Best Buy employees came around to count and make sure no one was trying to sneak in line without a wristband. Besides checking on that, they also announced several times that pictures would no longer be allowed! Oh, we were NOT happy! On the other hand, I was SO happy that I got my pictures with them at the CD Listening Party. Jonathon & Jordan's mom walked by a couple of times, and Joe's cousin (Matthew, I think?) came by and chatted with some girls in front of us. Apparently, they all knew each other.
Three hours later, with numb fingers and toes, we reached the door. They let us in, 20 at a time, and there was another line to get to the table where the guys were. Exciting, exciting! We also found out from someone who knew Shala that we COULD take pictures inside, and that a Best Buy employee would take pics for us as we're walking through the line and meeting the guys.
For most of the day, I was brainstorming on what I was gonna say to the guys. Everything that I came up with sounded so lame, and I didn't even know if I would go through with it. I didn't really come up with anything to say to Jonathon, Jordan, or Donnie. I had a couple of MySpace things I could've said to Jordan and Donnie ~ like "Jordan, are you EVER gonna accept my friend request???" And for Donnie "Hey, I know it took a while, but thanks for finally accepting my friend request." LAME! The others, I actually went through, and it didn't come out sounding too bad. ;-) All it took was a little confidence behind what I said. hehe.
Jon was first in line. I introduced myself (a goal I had this time around), and he said "Hi, it's nice to meet you!" (huge grin). I replied with the usual "It's nice to meet you, too!" Oh, but I wanted to say "It's nice to meet you AGAIN, too!" One of the lame things I thought to say was that he gives the best hugs, but I couldn't bring myself to it...of course, now I'm thinking I could've added "Can I get another hug from you?" or something along those lines. I know, to the outsider, that sounds lame, too...BUT to the New Kids fan, we do it all the time. So, it wouldn't be so lame. Anyway, that was fast, and we were moved along.Next was Jordan ("he's fresh, he's the master of mix, there ain't no rhyme that he can't fix"). I had absolutely nothing to say to him. I had even forgotten to
mention the MySpace thing. In any case, he didn't seem all the interested in making convo, or even to say "hi." So, no introduction there! Since he was so disinterested, I waited for him to sign my lanyard, and I listened on Brenda asking Jon if he remembered her from Mel's Diner (and they also met at the CD Listening Party, of course), and he said "No...but I remember her," and pointed to Shala, "Her pic-chas ah all ovah the inta-net!" *For those who don't read Bostonian: "Her pictures are all over the internet!" I got a kick out of that! Then Jordan SMACKED his hands on the table and burst out "SO!!! What's goin' ooonn?!?" Oh, he totally threw me off guard! I told him "Not much...we're all cold from standing out there for 2 hrs. We were all shivering!" At that, I demonstrated the shiver ~ haha ~ and Joe looked over. Jordan said "Well, thanks for waiting!" I replied "Thanks for waiting for US!!! :-D" And movin' on down to Joe.
I reached Joe, and just as I did, he opened his small bottle of pepsi and started guzzling it down. However, I was distracted by Danny jumping in and saying "I like your hat!!!" I said "Thanks!" I was gonna continue talking to Danny, but realized that my focus needed to be on Joe. Just as I refocused, Danny leaned over to Joe, glanced at me, and whispered something in Joe's ear. Joe smiled and nodded. WHAT did Danny say?!? Again, I refocused solely on Joe, and he was still guzzling his drink down. Sarcastically, but 
lovingly, I said "Hi Joe!" [Helllooo. I'm here...waiting for youuuu...] He winked (teehee!), finished his gulp, dramatically screwed the cap back and and nearly slammed the bottle on the table. Sharply extending his hand out to me, he exclaimed "HI!!!" I said "Hi!" again, and I honestly don't remember if I introduced myself...I don't think I did. Dang! But as he signed my lanyard, I told him "You know, they really should bring you back as Fiyero in 'Wicked.'" And he said "Well, off the radah [*radar], that might be a possiblity!" (or something along those lines...he could've said "that might be in the works," but you know...). My response was basically "Aww cool..." And I moved onto Danny.
I said "hello" again, and I might have introduced myself. As he signed my lanyard, I said "Thanks for the myspace message, by the way..." He warmly replied "You're welcome! What did I say???" LOL ~ I hinted "Studio City...How do you like Studio City? ;-)" That triggered it. He remembered!
Finally...last, but not least, I greeted Donnie. My voice was super cheerful! LOL ~ I think because I've just been LOVING his blogs and his enthusiasm! He looked oh-so-tired, but every ounce of the energy he had left, he was giving to each one of his fans. He gave his undivided attention, and as one of my friends put it, he wanted every fan to feel special. LOL ~ another friend and I thought that he was SO smooth! He extended his hand out to me before I could even react, and he just looked right through me as he asked how I 
was doing. I was already overwhelmed by talking to the other guys, and he just put me over the edge! Sensory overload!!! I told him I was doing good and asked how he was. He smiled and said "good... :)" I thanked him when he handed my lanyard back to me. He actually replied, looking right at me, as I started to walk away and said "You're welcome. :)" I wished him a good night, and he said "You too... :)" LOL ~ this could've gone on ALL night.By the time I reached Shala and Christina, all I could say was "omg omg omg omg omg!" THIS time I had a story to tell!!! Not like last time at the CD Listening Party. Oh no.
We hung out to tell our stories, and to wait for the guys to come out. Their van was parked inside the garage for Best Buy, and we weren't the only ones who were waiting. There were literally fans standing outside the garage door and taking pictures through the tiny window! The door opened, and the security guards shooed the girls away. As soon as the van pulled out, fans in their cars PEELED out and followed the van!!! Granted, yes, we did try to do the same thing, except that, Brenda figured it would be smart to beat them to the main road by going across the front of the store, rather than the back. Would've been a good idea, but it just didn't work. We'll leave it at that.
Some were less than thrilled with their experience, but I LOVED mine!!! While we had more personal time with them at the CD Listening Party, I used my time more wisely this time around. It can only get better from here. ;-)
Sunday, July 27, 2008
20 Years in the Making...A Dream Come True!
It all started when my friends and I heard there was a secret, private CD Listening party for the New Kids in an undisclosed location in L.A. "What?! How can we get in?!?" We found the contests to enter with XM and KIIS FM, we entered, but none of us won. Ah, the luck! But we weren't gonna let that get us down; Oh no! Information came to us as to where the winners were staying, and they were leaving on a bus by 3:15pm.
My friends, Shala and Brenda met me at Hollywood and Highland Center for a quick slice of pizza, then off to the Renaissance Hotel we went! Groups of girls filled the lobby; a majority with wristbands (those on the list), and a handful without. Information was tight, but WE hung tight (or should I say "hung tough"? ;-)) to find out what we could, and even to try our luck in finding out if we could get on the bus if there was room. No go on that one! "This is a *private* party" we were told...as if we didn't know. Shala ran into someone that she knew, though (the beginning of a regular occurrence for the evening), and this girl - Alicia - got a head start out in following one of the buses, and kept us up to date with texts as to where the bus was going. As back up, Shala and I spied on the last incoming bus and took note of the bus number (52). I won't even mention that Shala tried to push some binoculars on me to get the license plate number! I refused it, though. ;-)
When we finally hit the road, Alicia texted letting us know that the venue was on the corner of Sunset and Wilcox. Ooh, that much closer in our mission! ...of course, we ended up going the wrong way on Sunset. It was all good, and we weren't worried about it. Alicia texted us with the exact venue of S.I.R. (Studio Instrument Rentals), and I KNEW Andrew and his brother Chris would know how to direct us. Alicia also added that we better hurry. She and her friend were in the doors! Texting both Chris and Andrew, Chris wrote first and confirmed that yes, S.I.R. was on Sunset and Wilcox. And so, we found it! Hooray! We hurried our little selves down the street, and we could hear the music through the closed side doors ...What should happen but we get to the front door, and it's locked!!! A guy came to the door, about to open it for us, when, ever so abruptly, he turned around and walked away. Boooo!!!
Plan B - we headed to the door where we could hear them best. The door right next to the stage! The door that had a PEE-stained smell surrounding it, but we kept our ears peeled to the door...and even slid a note under reading "Hey guys, You have 3 fans standing outside this door - locked out!!! Please let us in to join the party! WE LOVE YOU!!! Charlene, Shala, and Brenda" Oh yeah. As you can imagine, nothing came from that. ha!
Brenda tried a couple of times to talk to the guy at the front door. Asking if he would let us in, and that we have friends in there without wristbands who were able to get in. He said "sorry, if you were here 5 to 10 minutes ago, you would've gotten in; but my boss already said 'no,' and if I let you in, she would get really pissed." Dang! Well, we went to listen by the door for another few minutes, and I gotta say, that their new music sounds awesome!!! "Full Service," which they sing with New Edition ROCKS!!! And a song they do with Lady Gaga of The Pussycat Dolls is HOT!!! And yes, we were dancing and cheering from outside the door, on the sidewalk. We headed back to the front door when the concert sounded over, and we heard the guys saying that they were gonna go out into the audience.
The front door guy kind of just gave us a look, then ignored us. Shala scoped around the building to see if there might be another door the guys might exit. Brenda and I joined her a minute later and approached two S.I.R. guards. We told them our pitiful story and asked if one of them, if he were us, where would he stay to wait for the New Kids. He thought about it a moment and said "Why don't you go through the gate and see how far you can get?" We looked back at the gate, puzzled, and said "But...the gate is closed..." His thumb reached for a button, and he said "Doesn't look closed to me..." We looked back and the gate was opening! We silently said "thank you!" and walked right in...looking like we belong. ;-)
When we got inside, a guy at the desk asked if he could help us. Brenda told him that we were let in. The guy asked "for???" Brenda whispered "New Kids on the Block." The guy had us follow him, and he led us right up front...to the front door guy. "These girls are here for New Kids on the Block," he said. The front door guy replied "Have at it! It's not in MY hands!" We walked right into the party! We immediately saw the guys about 20 ft. in front of us, doing an interview for E! Not much later, were we shooed away because we didn't have purple wristbands (they had dibs on meeting the guys first). Okay...whatev...chill, woman! We weren't in line...simply admiring.
We mingled, and Shala ran into a million people she knew or who knew her. We met some nice folks and some um - questionable ones. And Brenda recognized someone, who she couldn't place. Shala took the liberty of going up to the guy and asking who he was, despite our protests ("no! no! noooo!!! ...oh my gosh..." ~ and hiding our faces NOW!). It was Manny from Manny-on-the-Streets from KIIS FM. He had MC-ed the show that night, and Brenda had seen at some sort of event at some point, which was why she recognized him!
As more fans left, and we got closer and closer to the guys, plans were made as to how we would handle photos on each of our cameras. It turned out that there were a couple of women from Interscope Records taking pics for the fans, and holding on to their purses. We each got our time with the guys, and I let Shala and Brenda go first. They have great stories! Jon remembered meeting Shala at Mel's Diner a couple of months ago after their House of Blues show. Joe thought it was "very special" to meet Shala, and Donnie "needed the love" from Shala. haha...he grabbed her arm, as she was turning around to take the picture, and he wouldn't let go.
Brenda told the guys that she had waited 20 yrs. for this, and she was going to take her time with it. Donnie told her "You do whatever you need..." Brenda asked if she could have a kiss, and she got one! Half on the lips, half on the cheek. She also got a kiss on the cheek from Jon. I wonder if he also remembered her from Mel's Diner. Hmmm...
My story...whew! I went in and was gonna start with a Donnie hug...however, both Danny AND
Donnie were coming at me with open arms at the same time!!! Oh, who to hug first?!? I couldn't decide, so I hugged them both at the same time. haha! And I said/squealed "I am SO HAPPY to meet you guys!!!" As I turned towards Jordan and said "Hi Jordan!," Danny said "Look at that smile!!!" ;-D heehee! So glad to know that Invisalign did a world of good for me! Then I went to Jon and said "Hi Jon!!!," gave him a hug, and oh my goodness, he gives good hugs!!! And finally, I turned to Joe ~ and one of the guys, probably Donnie said "Don't forget about Joe!" And I said "Oh, of course not!!! Hi Joe! :-)" And then it was picture time!!! eeee! I was shaking! I got my arm around Joe, and as he was wrapping his arm around me, he was saying SOMETHING, but I have no idea what he said. I know I giggled...and the comment wasn't towards me; I have NO IDEA what he said! After the picture was taken, I don't even remember what I did or if I said "thanks" or "bye"...I know I went for my camera, my purse, and was looking for Shala and Brenda. But did I say anything to the guys? I have no clue!
Post show...we decided to visit the security guard who opened the gate for us to thank him. Unfortunately, he wasn't there, but a few fans were. We saw Joe come out and get into his Lexus SUV, but he didn't exit at that gate, he drove in the opposite direction. Next, Jon and Jordan came out. The three of us went around the building, as we realized that none of them would be exiting there. Jon and Jordan pulled out and took a right onto the street. We kept walking (in their direction). I didn't know if we were going to wave or not, but by the time Brenda looked at me, and I looked at her, I was also looking right at Jordan...and Jordan was looking at me. So, we had no choice but to wave to the Knight brothers! Eeee!
And before I could get too in the moment, I recognized two people coming out of one of the buildings ahead of us. It was Allan Hunt (my director from "Oliver!" last summer) and his girlfriend ~ her name escapes me, but she was in the show with us. Of course, I stopped to talk them. hehe, the "cool" factor was that Jonathon and Jordan were still waiting for the light to turn green, so if they were looking at us (and of course, they had to be ;-)), they saw that I "know people." hehe...I have a life outside of stalking them! So, while I was talking to Allan, his girlfriend, and a friend of theirs, I couldn't help but be distracted. I was still in shock from the entire day, just seeing Jordan and Jon, and wondering where Brenda and Shala were going! They started to walk off, and I wondered if they were going to talk to Jordan and Jon! They stopped, though, and I later found out that they saw Danny drive out, and they were going to go to his car. They didn't want to leave me behind.
The closer for our night was blaring New Kids "No More Games" Remix as we drove to Mel's Diner. We relived our experience, and at the end of dinner, Brenda drove Shala and me back to Hollywood and Highland and dropped us off. Before Shala and I left, though, we HAD to stop for Coldstone ice cream! I drove Shala back home to Irvine, and thus ended our night!
However, the story does not stop there...oh no. This afternoon, while I uploaded my New Kids pics on MySpace and Facebook, I sent comments to Joe and Danny, thanking them for last night and how great it was to meet them. I thanked Danny for his comment on my smile, that I just couldn't stop grinning, and I don't even remember if I said "bye" or "thanks" when it was all over ~ haha. About 30 min. to an hour later, I checked my email...I had two new myspace messages from Shannon, and a new message from Danny Wood. ?!? WHAT?!? I checked the message, and Danny said "It was nice to meet you, too. Sorry it was so fast. I live in Studio City, too." Quick, short, simple. Okay...but WHAT?!? DANNY WOOD wrote me?!? Could this get anymore surreal?!?
My friends, Shala and Brenda met me at Hollywood and Highland Center for a quick slice of pizza, then off to the Renaissance Hotel we went! Groups of girls filled the lobby; a majority with wristbands (those on the list), and a handful without. Information was tight, but WE hung tight (or should I say "hung tough"? ;-)) to find out what we could, and even to try our luck in finding out if we could get on the bus if there was room. No go on that one! "This is a *private* party" we were told...as if we didn't know. Shala ran into someone that she knew, though (the beginning of a regular occurrence for the evening), and this girl - Alicia - got a head start out in following one of the buses, and kept us up to date with texts as to where the bus was going. As back up, Shala and I spied on the last incoming bus and took note of the bus number (52). I won't even mention that Shala tried to push some binoculars on me to get the license plate number! I refused it, though. ;-)When we finally hit the road, Alicia texted letting us know that the venue was on the corner of Sunset and Wilcox. Ooh, that much closer in our mission! ...of course, we ended up going the wrong way on Sunset. It was all good, and we weren't worried about it. Alicia texted us with the exact venue of S.I.R. (Studio Instrument Rentals), and I KNEW Andrew and his brother Chris would know how to direct us. Alicia also added that we better hurry. She and her friend were in the doors! Texting both Chris and Andrew, Chris wrote first and confirmed that yes, S.I.R. was on Sunset and Wilcox. And so, we found it! Hooray! We hurried our little selves down the street, and we could hear the music through the closed side doors ...What should happen but we get to the front door, and it's locked!!! A guy came to the door, about to open it for us, when, ever so abruptly, he turned around and walked away. Boooo!!!
Plan B - we headed to the door where we could hear them best. The door right next to the stage! The door that had a PEE-stained smell surrounding it, but we kept our ears peeled to the door...and even slid a note under reading "Hey guys, You have 3 fans standing outside this door - locked out!!! Please let us in to join the party! WE LOVE YOU!!! Charlene, Shala, and Brenda" Oh yeah. As you can imagine, nothing came from that. ha!
Brenda tried a couple of times to talk to the guy at the front door. Asking if he would let us in, and that we have friends in there without wristbands who were able to get in. He said "sorry, if you were here 5 to 10 minutes ago, you would've gotten in; but my boss already said 'no,' and if I let you in, she would get really pissed." Dang! Well, we went to listen by the door for another few minutes, and I gotta say, that their new music sounds awesome!!! "Full Service," which they sing with New Edition ROCKS!!! And a song they do with Lady Gaga of The Pussycat Dolls is HOT!!! And yes, we were dancing and cheering from outside the door, on the sidewalk. We headed back to the front door when the concert sounded over, and we heard the guys saying that they were gonna go out into the audience.
The front door guy kind of just gave us a look, then ignored us. Shala scoped around the building to see if there might be another door the guys might exit. Brenda and I joined her a minute later and approached two S.I.R. guards. We told them our pitiful story and asked if one of them, if he were us, where would he stay to wait for the New Kids. He thought about it a moment and said "Why don't you go through the gate and see how far you can get?" We looked back at the gate, puzzled, and said "But...the gate is closed..." His thumb reached for a button, and he said "Doesn't look closed to me..." We looked back and the gate was opening! We silently said "thank you!" and walked right in...looking like we belong. ;-)
When we got inside, a guy at the desk asked if he could help us. Brenda told him that we were let in. The guy asked "for???" Brenda whispered "New Kids on the Block." The guy had us follow him, and he led us right up front...to the front door guy. "These girls are here for New Kids on the Block," he said. The front door guy replied "Have at it! It's not in MY hands!" We walked right into the party! We immediately saw the guys about 20 ft. in front of us, doing an interview for E! Not much later, were we shooed away because we didn't have purple wristbands (they had dibs on meeting the guys first). Okay...whatev...chill, woman! We weren't in line...simply admiring.
We mingled, and Shala ran into a million people she knew or who knew her. We met some nice folks and some um - questionable ones. And Brenda recognized someone, who she couldn't place. Shala took the liberty of going up to the guy and asking who he was, despite our protests ("no! no! noooo!!! ...oh my gosh..." ~ and hiding our faces NOW!). It was Manny from Manny-on-the-Streets from KIIS FM. He had MC-ed the show that night, and Brenda had seen at some sort of event at some point, which was why she recognized him!
As more fans left, and we got closer and closer to the guys, plans were made as to how we would handle photos on each of our cameras. It turned out that there were a couple of women from Interscope Records taking pics for the fans, and holding on to their purses. We each got our time with the guys, and I let Shala and Brenda go first. They have great stories! Jon remembered meeting Shala at Mel's Diner a couple of months ago after their House of Blues show. Joe thought it was "very special" to meet Shala, and Donnie "needed the love" from Shala. haha...he grabbed her arm, as she was turning around to take the picture, and he wouldn't let go.
My story...whew! I went in and was gonna start with a Donnie hug...however, both Danny AND
Donnie were coming at me with open arms at the same time!!! Oh, who to hug first?!? I couldn't decide, so I hugged them both at the same time. haha! And I said/squealed "I am SO HAPPY to meet you guys!!!" As I turned towards Jordan and said "Hi Jordan!," Danny said "Look at that smile!!!" ;-D heehee! So glad to know that Invisalign did a world of good for me! Then I went to Jon and said "Hi Jon!!!," gave him a hug, and oh my goodness, he gives good hugs!!! And finally, I turned to Joe ~ and one of the guys, probably Donnie said "Don't forget about Joe!" And I said "Oh, of course not!!! Hi Joe! :-)" And then it was picture time!!! eeee! I was shaking! I got my arm around Joe, and as he was wrapping his arm around me, he was saying SOMETHING, but I have no idea what he said. I know I giggled...and the comment wasn't towards me; I have NO IDEA what he said! After the picture was taken, I don't even remember what I did or if I said "thanks" or "bye"...I know I went for my camera, my purse, and was looking for Shala and Brenda. But did I say anything to the guys? I have no clue!
Post show...we decided to visit the security guard who opened the gate for us to thank him. Unfortunately, he wasn't there, but a few fans were. We saw Joe come out and get into his Lexus SUV, but he didn't exit at that gate, he drove in the opposite direction. Next, Jon and Jordan came out. The three of us went around the building, as we realized that none of them would be exiting there. Jon and Jordan pulled out and took a right onto the street. We kept walking (in their direction). I didn't know if we were going to wave or not, but by the time Brenda looked at me, and I looked at her, I was also looking right at Jordan...and Jordan was looking at me. So, we had no choice but to wave to the Knight brothers! Eeee!
And before I could get too in the moment, I recognized two people coming out of one of the buildings ahead of us. It was Allan Hunt (my director from "Oliver!" last summer) and his girlfriend ~ her name escapes me, but she was in the show with us. Of course, I stopped to talk them. hehe, the "cool" factor was that Jonathon and Jordan were still waiting for the light to turn green, so if they were looking at us (and of course, they had to be ;-)), they saw that I "know people." hehe...I have a life outside of stalking them! So, while I was talking to Allan, his girlfriend, and a friend of theirs, I couldn't help but be distracted. I was still in shock from the entire day, just seeing Jordan and Jon, and wondering where Brenda and Shala were going! They started to walk off, and I wondered if they were going to talk to Jordan and Jon! They stopped, though, and I later found out that they saw Danny drive out, and they were going to go to his car. They didn't want to leave me behind.
The closer for our night was blaring New Kids "No More Games" Remix as we drove to Mel's Diner. We relived our experience, and at the end of dinner, Brenda drove Shala and me back to Hollywood and Highland and dropped us off. Before Shala and I left, though, we HAD to stop for Coldstone ice cream! I drove Shala back home to Irvine, and thus ended our night!
However, the story does not stop there...oh no. This afternoon, while I uploaded my New Kids pics on MySpace and Facebook, I sent comments to Joe and Danny, thanking them for last night and how great it was to meet them. I thanked Danny for his comment on my smile, that I just couldn't stop grinning, and I don't even remember if I said "bye" or "thanks" when it was all over ~ haha. About 30 min. to an hour later, I checked my email...I had two new myspace messages from Shannon, and a new message from Danny Wood. ?!? WHAT?!? I checked the message, and Danny said "It was nice to meet you, too. Sorry it was so fast. I live in Studio City, too." Quick, short, simple. Okay...but WHAT?!? DANNY WOOD wrote me?!? Could this get anymore surreal?!?
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